Kenyan president lauds Africa's internal review mechanism

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday said the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a voluntary governance self-assessment by African countries, is the best tool to review African countries as they have similar challenges and background.

Kenyatta said since the first review done to the country in 2006, Kenya has made tremendous progress in terms of good governance, economic and social development.

"As a government we have nothing to be ashamed of, we have put our best efforts," Kenyatta said in Nairobi when he was presented with the Road map for Kenya's second Review by the panel of APRM eminent persons.

The APRM is a framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) with the aim of fostering the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth and sustainable development in the continent.

Kenyatta cited the promulgation of the 2010 constitution, peaceful general elections held in 2013, and implementation of the devolved system of government, the ongoing judiciary and police reforms as some of the key milestones the country has achieved.

The president pointed out that unlike before, Kenyan citizens participate in the making of laws saying, "when cabinet passes the Bill that is not the end of it."

He said Kenyans have yet another opportunity to cast their votes under the new constitution in August 2017 noting that the ongoing reforms are setting a conducive environment to hold peaceful elections.

Kenyatta asked the team to put up proper structures as they prepare for the second APRM summit to be held next week on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference of Africa's Development (TICAD) to be held in Nairobi.

Kenya has already completed its self-assessment and the panel of APRM eminent persons is coming to undertake the actual review which will culminate in the President being reviewed by his peers during the January 2017 APRM summit to be held Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Areas to be covered during the review include, democratization process, corporate governance, economic management and social development.

The panel will verify the information presented by the Kenyan government in order to come up with their independent report.

President Kenyatta is the current chairman of the APRM forum of Heads of State and Government participating in the process. Since his election last year June, a lot has been achieved in revitalizing the review process.

Through his efforts the APRM secretariat based in South Africa has been stabilized and member states have started updating their contributions.

For the last 12 years, the APRM has promoted policy dialogue between leaders and citizens through the national self-assessment, in the process highlighting critical overarching challenges impeding the development of our individual countries and collectively, the African continent.

The challenges include corruption, youth unemployment, weak taxation systems, land and mismanagement of natural resources. In some countries, it has served as an early warning system.

Kenya is tasked with the responsibility of fast-tracking the integration of the APRM into the African Union system and processes.

The APRM is conducted using domesticated guidelines developed by the APRM continental secretariat, based on four thematic pillars.

Source : XINHUA